The Stress of Keeping Secrets

Secrets can weigh heavily on people in a physical way. Volunteers reflected on a personal secret before estimating the incline of a hill facing them, and the bigger the secret, the steeper the slope appeared to be. Similarly, participants who were hiding a big secret used more force to toss a beanbag into a container and overthrew more often than those who were concealing a trivial one. And among people who had recently been unfaithful, those who reported brooding about their infidelity the most rated physical tasks, such as carrying groceries upstairs, as the most challenging. The mental strain of keeping a secret involves perceived physical burden that may result in overexertion, exhaustion, and stress, according to Michael L. Slepian, a researcher in the psychology department at Tufts University, and his colleagues.